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French President Emmanuel Macron named centrist ally Francois Bayrou as new prime minister. It is the second such appointment in roughly four months. French President Emmanuel Macron named Francois Bayrou as prime minister on Friday.
Bayrou new head of government replaces Michel Barnier, who resigned last week after far-right and left-wing lawmakers voted to bring down his government. "The President of the Republic has appointed Mr. Francois Bayrou as prime minister and tasked him with forming a government," the French presidency said, giving no more details.
The toppling of Barnier's government has plunged France into its second major political crisis in six months. Who is Francois Bayrou? The 73-year-old Bayrou is a centrist who leads the MoDem party — allied to Macron's Renaissance party — who was seen as a favorite for the role. He is a former education minister and member of the European Parliament.
Macron had postponed the nomination of a new prime minister, missing a 48-hour deadline he gave at a Tuesday meeting of party leaders from across the political spectrum. Bayrou now becomes the sixth prime minister of Macron's presidency, with Barnier having lasted only three months. France's Macron vows to appoint new PM, serve full term To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video rc/zc (AFP, Reuters).
